KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) — Natural rubber (NR) exports in July 2014 increased by 187 tonnes, or 0.4 per cent, to 51,772 tonnes compared with the previous month, said the Statistics Department.
In a statement Friday, the department said exports fell 25.8 per cent compared with July last year.
It said Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) contributed 95.0 per cent to the total exports, with 50.9 per cent of that comprising SMR 20.
“NR was exported mainly to China (34.4 per cent), followed by Germany (16.7 per cent), the United States (5.4 per cent), Brazil (4.3 per cent), Iran (7.6 per cent), Finland (2.3 per cent), Mexico (2.3 per cent) and Poland (3.1 per cent).
NR imports in July 2014 rose by 13.6 per cent to 82,578 tonnes from June 2014.
Compared with July 2013, imports fell by 8.6 per cent to 90,350 tonnes.
The department said production for the month under review totalled 60,111 tonnes, down 27.5 per cent year-on-year (yoy), with the smallholding sector contributing 91.1 per cent while the estate sector constituted 8.9 per cent.
“Kedah produced the highest NR among states accounting for 23.2 per cent, followed by Negeri Sembilan (20.2 per cent) and Perak (15.1 per cent),” it said.
Total NR for domestic consumption in July eased by 6.5 per cent to 36,352 tonnes, with the rubber gloves industry being the largest consuming sector at 74.3 per cent, followed by tyre and tubes (6.2 per cent) and rubber thread (7.8 per cent).
The country’s NR stocks stood at 146,096 tonnes as at end-July 2014, up 10.8 per cent compared with the previous month.
The average monthly price of latex concentrate in July 2014 was 453.90 sen, down 1.7 per cent from the previous month and 13.3 per cent fall yoy.
Production productivity for the month under review was recorded at 130.8 kg per hectare, up by 0.6 per cent from the previous month but eased 9.2 per cent yoy.
— BERNAMA
